Question of the Week: 86 - 11/24/2002How’s Your Gratitude Attitude?It has been a rough couple of years in this world of ours. Wars and terrorist threats make the news every day. You seem to run into every cranky person on the planet. You think that your phone might be tapped -- or soon will be -- or really should be. Your family is a little less than Brady Bunch perfection and the holidays haven’t even reached full swing yet and already you have run out of money and gained ten pounds. (You know where!)

Has your 'gratitude attitude' taken a big hit of late? Or are you still the poster child for the ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’ platform? How do you maintain an attitude of -- or develop an aptitude for -- thanksgiving when the going gets rough?

I am Thankful for my husband's job which affords us many opportunities and comforts.

I am Thankful for our full bellies and not having to choose between clean water or food for my family. Goddess be with those that do!

I too could go on and on, but it does start to sound like bragging and that is not my intention.

I pray for peace in this world of ours.

I pray for sanity and rational thought in our government and the World.

I pray we will all come out stronger and wiser.

I pray for all those who are struggling with grief. May it become easier every day.

I pray for all those who are struggling to survive in this World. May they have the fortitude they need.

On a lighter note: I am Thankful we were able to take in Disney World this past weekend - good for my sanity & rational thought after all this scary stuff going on. I came up with a solution to terrorisim (ok, my husband did). Put all the terrorists, foreign & domestic, on the "Small World" ride. Make them ride it until the message sinks in. For those of you that don't know the song, please, let me enlighten you.."It's a World of Laughter, a World of Cheer. It's a World of Hope and a World of Fear. There's so much that we share and it's time we're aware, it's a small World after all." After 72-hours on this way too sugary sweet ride all the terrorists will either be crying with shame or insane. Problem solved. Gotta love Disney.

Goddess Bless our Small, Small World!! We need it!

Happy Thanksgiving All. May our blessings be bountiful and our bellies too full including those of you in other countries.

MoonOwl

P.S. Wren & Fritz, I hope Ruby is getting better... I'm gonna surf for news now. I think I can handle it again. I've been hit w/Tinkerbell's Fairy Dust:}!! Temperance will prevail. We have to have faith.

Even though life has handed me more lemons than I care to make lemonade out of, I am thankful and grateful for the way things have turned out. I am happier than I was last year. I have a wonderful fiance who I will be spending the holiday with. I have a wonderful two year old son who never ceases to amaze me with his joy and love of everything he sees. I have my health and those around me do as well. I take comfort in knowing I make people happy, and that they are happy with me too.

for the past six years ive spent my birthdays and holidays sleeping in alley ways and even spent one or two in an old abondoned house up north with only half a roof and almost a foot of snow inside and i never really thought of myself as really being down on my luck i know that there are alot more people worse off than me but this year is different things have gotten so much betteri am constantly around my friends and family again i have a job that i love and all in all im just really pleased at the way things are going im living off of love and art at the moment and it feels great i always look at the positive aspects in life but this year i just have so much to be thankful for

With a big down turn in the southern economy, and family problems stemming from the stress of unemployment, no one would blame me for being major league ungrateful this Thanksgiving. But I'm not, I feel thankfulness in my heart and not just mouthing the words. My family is not all healthy, and we probably won't have enough money for a big dinner. But that doesn't stop me from being grateful for the wisdom I have been imparted this year. Or the serenity I have felt during times of extreme emotion all around me. I have cried and fallen this year, and I have no idea where we go from here. But I know I will not crumble and shatter; I will come through the other side entact of soul and mind, and for that I am thankful.

Even though I'm going through some rough times; my husband lost his job, we've been forced to file for bankruptcy; I still find much to be thankful for. I'm very thankful to be alive right now, able to sit at my computer and type this. I'm thankful for my family, even though we don't see eye to eye. I'm thankful for my friends; those that I have are treasured. I'm thankful for my "little girl" Madison. I'm thankful that I live in a country where I can visit this website and freely add my thoughts without fear of being arrested and locked away indefinitely for my views and beliefs. I'm thankful that there's a roof over my head and that I never want for food. I'm thankful for the many wonderful blessings of the Goddess; may Her blessings abound on those less fortunate than me.

I'm thankful for today.Looking out my window watching the leaves fall as they dance in the wind just before they hit the ground.Feeling the warmth of the sun's rays pire throe my window,as it lites up my face.A face ,a place that is home for a smile.it's sure good to be home....i use to be homeless with my four children walking the streets never knowing where to sleep or what we were going to eat.i'm thankful for today ...remember yesterday is history tomrrow is a myistry and TODAY is a gift thats why it's called THE PRESENT....LIGHT and LOVE to all that want it... Flame

I have had good fortune in my life, and little hardship. My spouse is a wonder, and my girls were a dream to raise. I have a country home in a small town with good friends. I was guided to and along my path from early childhood.I am at peace with the gods.Do I hit bumps in the road? Of course, do they derail my life? Not yet.Do I fear phone tapping, spying, or the wild eyes of the inquisition? No. There will always be crazies and there will always be intolerance.I look past the screamers in the news, and find the real people in the real world amazing and wonderful.For these and many other things I am thankful.

ok so i have this pretty crummy job, and i really really want a change... and two of my best friends turned me down, which was rather painful... and i'm so terribly out of money... and my mum and me, who seemed finally to get back to our former level of intimacy, have drifted apart once more...

still. i have friends besides the two who let me down. really good ones, too. i carry them in my heart, as i know they carry me in theirs.i don't have a husband or boyfriend but i'm having a good time anyway.after years of being depressed and frantic i have finally come to safer, steadier ground. i'm still all for going to playgrounds, i love to go sit on a swing and pretend that i can fly.there's this apple tree in my street; whenever apples have fallen from it, i can take them home and bake apple pie. when i go to a park, i can lie down and feel mother earth carrying me.when i feel lost, i can close my eyes and think of the sea, and there's always a beacon there to help me get back to the shores of myself. i'm not afraid of drowning anymore.

i'm thankful for the wonderful people around me that made me see the light CAN be spread if you shine your own. no matter how small, every little candle adds to the lightness of the whole.

i could go on, but basically what i want to say is that i've got the feeling i'm at last starting to celebrate and embrace my life here and now, instead of just dream about the hereafter. so i guess my thanks go out to whatever force is helping me and making the struggle less harsh and more worthwhile. i'm thankful that i can enjoy the little things, and i'm thankful that i can feel the zest adding up in me to start enjoying the bigger things as well.

Healing from old wounds and mourning for what was lost has freed me to deal immediately with new pain and grief. This has been a wonderful and unexpected gift. My energy is no longer bound to the past, but can be used to help me cope with current difficulties.

I lost a beloved companion animal in July and am in the process of losing two more over the course of the next couple of months. A fourth may also be leaving within the next year. I cannot replace them. But I can tell you that I am humbly grateful to have shared my life with them for the last six and a half years, to have learned so much about love from them, and to have the honor of helping them during their last days of life. I am grateful to have them as teachers in the mystery of death. I am also grateful that I can feel this pain and grief. It is the greatest gift I have ever received. It really is the gift of life.

Every moment I spend with my ferrets is precious to me. When they have all left me I will have to learn how to live without them. It is that gift of pain that will guide me as I navigate through the grief, because I know the other face of this coin is joy. I'll always have them in my heart now that it is no longer crowded with old wounds. For this I am grateful.

I'm so very thankful for the love of my life...he keeps me focused. My family, even though we could be poster people for dysfunction...I love them dearly. For the wonderful people who "decorate" my life...thank you.

we get into fights and have serious disagreements about things, she is a christian and i am a witch, she is more conservative than i, she doesnt like guns, she wants to cut down the sycamore tree in our back yard, she frets about her hair too much, she says i wear weird shoes, she thinks i have too much clothing, she drinks to cope, she replaced my dog's bed basket with a new one which he doesnt like. but she is perfect. i cant think of anything else to be particularly grateful for at the moment, except perhaps moderately good health, and my beast of a familiar, but if im only able to be grateful for my mom, thats a hell of a lot of gratitude, i can tell you.

Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.

Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wrenâ€™s Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witchesâ€™ Voice, Inc. TWV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.

Sponsorship: Visit the Witches' Voice Sponsor Page for info on how youcan help support this Community Resource. Donations ARE Tax Deductible.
The Witches' Voice carries a 501(c)(3) certificate and a Federal Tax ID.